Good morning, church. Open your Bibles, please, to Psalm 119 for our scripture reading this morning. And as we begin our journey here through the longest Psalm, the longest chapter in the Bible, we'll be looking at verses one through eight this morning of Psalm 119. But before we do, just a few words about the psalm in general. Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm with 22 sections or stanzas. And each stanza contains eight verses for a total of 176 verses. Each verse in the first stanza begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse in the second stanza begins with the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet, so on and so forth through all 22 stanzas and all 22 corresponding letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 119 has been called the great psalm of Bible delight. It's been called the Mount Everest of the Psalter. It's been called the psalm that holds together a faith that obeys and an obedience that believes. It's been called the portrait of Christian excellence. And in my estimation, all of these descriptions are true. Now we don't know who wrote Psalm 119, but it's clear that this psalm is the prayer of a man who loved God and loved his word. The psalmist understood in a way that many evangelicals today do not, that to love God is to obey his commandments. And the psalmist is in lockstep with the apostle John when he said that if we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth. But the psalmist is certainly not an antinomian. He's not a lawless man, but he's also not a legalist. For example, in verse 41, we're not gonna see that today, but we will, Lord willing, in the future. In verse 41, the psalmist cries out to God, let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. His obedience and pursuit of holiness is not an attempt to earn God's favor or grace, but rather it is a response to God's promise of salvation, which of course would find its ultimate fulfillment in the sending of his son for sinners, the promised Messiah who would conquer sin and death. So let us not make the mistake of painting the psalmist as some sort of legalist. Yes, he has a fervent desire to obey God's word, but it's a desire motivated by God's grace and faithfulness. And it's a desire, brothers and sisters, that we would all do well to cultivate more in our own lives. Commentator Christopher Ash says this regarding Psalm 119. This Psalm opens for us a window into a world where the people of God love the word of God. It invites us not just to look in through the window as into a strange world, but it invites us to climb in, to enter into this world and to live in it. And as we enter into this world of Psalm 119, a world where the people of God do indeed love the word of God, as we enter into this world this morning, I want us to see three marks of Christian obedience, three marks that are introduced in these first eight verses, but that reappear time and time again throughout the entire Psalm. And those three marks of Christian obedience are these. First, Christian obedience is diligent. Second, Christian obedience is governed by truth. And third, Christian obedience is pursued in dependence upon God. Look with me starting at verse four, where we see that Christian obedience is a diligent obedience. Speaking to God, the psalmist says this, you have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Now the word precepts here is one of 10 or so different ways that the psalmist will refer to the scriptures, to the word of God. So as we study Psalm 119, whenever we see the psalmist using words such as law, testimonies, ways, precepts, rules, judgments, commandments, word, promises, et cetera, whenever we see these various terms used, we can understand them as referring to the entire Bible, as referring to the scriptures. So we see here in verse four that according to God's command, Christian obedience is a diligent keeping of God's precepts. It's an earnest obedience to his word. Christian obedience is not careless, rather it is attentive. Christian obedience is not thoughtless, rather it is discerning. Christian obedience is not inactive, rather it is lively. Accordingly, the psalmist goes on in verse five and he exclaims, oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. His prayer is that his obedience be steadfast, that it be dedicated, that it be relentless, that it be unwavering. This isn't a half-hearted obedience. Look to verse two. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies who seek him with their whole heart. Now notice the development of thought here. Keeping God's testimonies, walking according to his word, this is an integral part of seeking him with our whole hearts. We cannot live a life devoted to God, a life where we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. We cannot live this type of Christian life without keeping his testimonies, without seeking him with our whole hearts. And this type of life, brothers and sisters, doesn't just happen to us. It's something that we must diligently pursue, because true Christian obedience is a diligent obedience. Look with me now to verse six, where we see that Christian obedience is an obedience which is governed by truth. And the psalmist says this in verse six, I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. Please note that the psalmist has already referenced the scriptures in each of the preceding five verses. So he's already established the importance of God's Word as it relates to the life of the believer. God's truth must govern our thoughts, our feelings, our actions. But here in verse six, the psalmist uses very explicit language to express the necessity of the Bible in directing our lives when he says, I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. The fixing of his eyes on the commandments of God, it ensures that his obedience is in line with divine truth. The scriptures are his guardrails. They keep him from being put to shame. Friends, you've heard it said from this pulpit before, related to God's worship, that God doesn't accept all worship that is offered to him. And in the same vein, Not everything that is done for God and done in His name is found pleasing in His sight. Only those things that are done in accordance with His word will be pleasing to Him, including our acts of obedience. Christian obedience is an obedience that is governed by truth. It's not governed by our imaginations. It's not governed by our passions. It's not governed by rules that other people would set up and say that you have to meet this standard. Christian obedience is governed by God's truth alone. Now, note also here that we must work to learn God's word if we want to live according to it. Look to verse seven. I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules. It's not enough to know that divine truth is contained somewhere within the Bible that's on your shelf. That's not enough to know that. We have to become familiar with the divine truth contained in that book if it is to properly govern our lives. Like the psalmist, we must learn God's righteous rules, rules expressly contained in his word, because true Christian obedience is an obedience governed by truth. Well, third and finally, look with me to verse eight, where we see that Christian obedience is to be pursued in dependence upon God. Verse eight, I will keep your statutes, do not utterly forsake me. Having expressed his desire to be steadfast in keeping God's commandments, having laid out the necessity of divine truth to govern his obedience, the psalmist now makes a vow before the Lord that he will keep his statutes, but he immediately follows that vow with a plea for divine help. Do not utterly forsake me. And the psalmist knows that in his own strength, he can do nothing. He knows that left to himself, his obedience would fall woefully short of pleasing God in this vow that he has just made would only add to his condemnation. Therefore, he begs the Lord, do not utterly forsake me. And friends, realize that this plea, it springs from a heart that is confident in the grace of God. It comes from a heart that is confident in the promises of God. The psalmist knew of God's many promises to his people. He knew that God would never leave him nor forsake him. And so he had warrant to pray this promise back to God. Do not utterly forsake me. And as we purpose to keep the Lord's statutes, as we seek to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, we too must do so in dependence upon Him. Saints, God, by His grace, He has forgiven your sins. He has set you free from the power of sin. He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon you richly through Jesus Christ. And the Bible tells us that this grace of God has not only brought you salvation, but in the book of Titus, we read that this grace of God is training you to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. The grace of God is training you to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. As you pursue true Christian obedience, you're not doing it alone. You have the Spirit of God living in you. He's working in you. He is enabling you to live for God's glory, and you must depend upon Him. You must recognize that without Him, all of your best efforts would be for naught. And Paul summarizes this tension between God's work and our work in the process of sanctification in his letter to the Philippians. Paul says this, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. He doesn't say work for your own salvation, but work out the salvation that God has performed in you. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. We obey, we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but we do it knowing that God is working in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure, which just so happens to be our being conformed to the image of Christ. True Christian obedience is an obedience that is pursued in dependence upon God. And so we've seen that true Christian obedience is diligent, it's governed by truth, and it is pursued in dependence upon God. And brothers and sisters, our lives need to be marked by each of these three things. When one of them is missing, we're headed down a wrong path. If we have just diligence and truth, but we don't have dependence, what we become is self-righteous. We become a legalist. If we have truth and dependence, but we have no diligence, then that leads to spiritual laziness, antinomianism, presuming upon the goodness and kindness of God. And if we have diligence and dependence, but we have not truth, then we're just wandering around blind. So we need all three. So may God be pleased to give each of us a will purposed to obey him diligently, a mind that is informed by his word, and a heart that is in dependence upon his grace. If you're able, please stand for the reading of God's word. Psalm 119, verses one through eight. Hear the word of God. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. "'I will praise you with an upright heart "'when I learn your righteous rules. "'I will keep your statutes. "'Do not utterly forsake me.'" Amen. May God bless the reading of His holy and infallible word. You may be seated.